Rolling onto Tummy During the Night

Danielle is waking during the night and rolling onto her tummy. The first time she does it during the night she gets frustrated that she can't roll back and starts crying so we roll her back on her back, tell her go back to sleep and leave the room. I can never go back to sleep after that so I go and check on her and she's rolled back onto her tummy and fallen asleep. A couple of times I've tried rolling her onto her back when she's asleep but she wakes up and when I check on her again she back on her belly.

I'm scared that I'll find her not breathing in the morning. Is there anything I can do or am I just over reacting? Is it OK for her to sleep on her tummy now that she's a little older? I just want her to be safe and I'm not sure what to do.

I've got the same problems with Cooper! In the last week he has finally got the hang of rolling onto his tummy constantly.

As soon as I put him in the cot he flips over to his tum!!!

The first night he cried out a bit at being on his tummy and being stuck and also was banging against the bars, waking us up.

But now he just goes onto his tummy and falls asleep. This morning we were woken around 3.30 am because the breathing monitor went off!!! Bloody hell. He must have wriggled off the sensor.

I am letting him sleep on his tummy for day sleeps (he will NOT stay on his back). But at least during the day I can check on him.

I feel nervous at night.

I've just put him in a summer sleeping bag but this doesn't stop the rolling.

He seems fairly safe as he can change his head position from side to side ... but still ...

The risk of SIDS does lessen as they get stronger and is generally considered to be almost zilch by 6 months. Once they can roll by themselves there is very little risk. And seeing as you can't do anything about it anyway, try not to worry. Jack did the same thing and was fine. If you have a breathing monitor (I do too) then at least you will be alerted if there is a problem. Being exposed to smoke etc is considered far more dangerous than tummy sleeping. Some babies will only sleep on their tummies and are fine.

I was told the same as Melanie, once they roll on your own there is nothing you can do about it. You could buy a device that holds them flat, but there isn't much more you can do. I was in a sleep school with Matilda when she was 10 weeks old and she started rolling at that time (we were there to try & get her to sleep on her back as she refused too) and they told me that was it, she'd won the battle & there was nothing else I could do but start settling her on her side or belly.

bubs- can she roll from her tummy to her back? If so then she will be right. When Madisom was a baby some people at a sleep school said it was fine to let them sleep on their tummy.Madison used to sleep much better on her tummy

Kel - She used to roll from her tummy to her back but I must've helped her too much by putting her arms too much underneath her. She doesn't do it anymore. I'm trying to teach her but she doesn't want to do it by herself.

I just worry that somethings going to happen to her. I guess there's not much I can do about it if she's going to roll she's going to roll.

Kelly, Cooper is the same. He can't roll from tummy to back! Yet he has done it before! Only twice though and that was ages ago. I guess he's forgotten how? So once he flips onto his tummy he is stuck. If he's not happy to go to sleep then he'll cry out.

I must admit, it seems easy to help settle a grizzly baby on their tummy as you can stroke their back, pat their bum. It seems to soothe Cooper.

Tori started to do exactley same thing at about 5 months, and we were forever going in there and finding her asleep on her tummy. In the end I gave up fighting her on it and started sleeping her on her tummy and she has actualley started to sleep much better. Can Danielle, lift her head up? because even if she can't roll back and can lift her head up then she should be fine.

She has no problem lifting her head plus the whole of her chest. She's very strong in that department. It's just a couple of times I've noticed her with her face down in the sheet but I've check again and she's rolled her head to the other side. I watched her this morning as she didn't get up until late.

I guess I'm worrying about nothing but I'm still scared!!

kel- i would be too, i don't have this problem with Charlotte as she is still wrapped.
Fee- it is easy to get them to sleep when they are on their belly.

Alexa has started doing this too... but has even managed to turn in her safe-t-sleep!!!!!!!

hey Bubs - this worried me too, but my clinic nurse said if they are going to roll over then they are going to roll over - if they have the strength to do that then they will be fine, I just worry that Charlie will get stuck against the bars - but as both you and Fee have said, Danielle and Cooper have cried out when they've gotten stuck.

I think it's going to be one of those things, like when they were new born, the first night you check every five minutes, the second night every ten until gradually you get used to it, nothing happens to them and you're able to check them only every couple of hours.

Joshua is doing exactly the same, so what i did was let him lie on a mat during the day with a few toys (during play time) and i noticed he would roll onto his belly, in no time he was rolling back and forth- i think giving him this time strengthed his back and neck muscles, so now when he sleeps on his belly i am at ease knowing he can roll himself back over onto his back